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Thursday, March 5, 2015

Reece at 4 Months

I can't believe another month has come and gone. Granted, February is a short one, but still. It seems each month goes by faster than the last. Probably because life with Reece is getting so much easier. The third month was pretty great, but the fourth month was even better! And I love that I was finally able to capture some of his personality for his pictures this month.

Reece is now smiling all.the.time. People thought he was alert and wide-eyed as a newborn, but now he's really taking it all in. Thankfully, that isn't interfering with his sleep yet. He still has that internal clock that says hey, I've been awake for an hour and a half...it's time to put me to bed! We're starting to stretch it to an hour and forty-five or even two hours, but usually he can only handle that in the mornings.

The kid is eating massive amounts, too, so I'm trying to work on getting him to stretch a little longer between feedings. Again, he does well with this in the mornings, but in the evening, he'd rather eat about every two hours. He typically starts playing with the bottle about halfway through, but as soon as you set it down, he realizes he's starving and gulps it down! He drinks three 6 ounce bottles and three 5 ounce bottles, and he still gets one or two ounces in the middle of the night most nights. We're working on getting rid of that feeding, as well, since he doesn't really seem hungry any more. I think it's just a habit. Strangely, in spite of the massive amounts he's eating, he hasn't grown a massive amount this month. He hasn't been weighed yet, but he's still in 3 month clothes, though 3-6 month clothes fit him better, he just doesn't have many of them.

You may be able to tell by the increase in blog posts that I am spending far less time pumping these days, as my goal is to be weaned from the pump by the time we go to Cebu in three weeks. That, and the fact that Reece is napping well these days, means that I have much more time to accomplish tasks during the day. It's so nice knowing that I can leave the house for more than four hours at a time, if I want. Of course, I still have loads of mom guilt knowing that Reece will be on 100% formula for our vacation and that he'll be on about 50% formula for the rest of his 5th month before the frozen milk is gone, but the guilt really won't get me very far in the long run. He's still a happy baby (now that we've found a Korean formula that doesn't make him cry when he poops.).

He still is not on a reliable "schedule," so I can't necessarily predict what time he's going to wake up or when naps will be from day to day, but that's probably best with him being the third. He doesn't expect to be in his crib napping at 9:00 and 1:00 every day, which makes leaving the house to do what needs to be done easier. Thankfully, he will still nap in the Moby, Bjorn, and Ergo (ridiculous that we have 3 carriers!), though he won't fall asleep in our arms and rarely when we're even in the room! He's reliably taking three 1 1/2-2 hour naps, and he's down for the night by 7:30, usually getting up between 7:30 and 8:30 in the morning.

A month ago, Reece was beginning to reach out and bat at or grab the toys that hang from the activity gym. This month, he's been grabbing them and hanging onto them, but he can't get them into his mouth, of course. About a week ago, he finally started grabbing toys that we put within his reach, and he's now able to get them into his mouth. It's not smooth yet, but he's working hard on it. Unfortunately, he can't stay independently entertained this way for long because he's always dropping the toys, and he lets me know about it! He's not happy to lay on the floor without some form of entertainment any longer. Eric informed me the other day that he'd read that a baby this young is not capable of manipulation, but I swear he knows that if he lets out a cry, I will come over, and then he's all smiles! It's okay with me.

He is a very happy boy most of the time, and we're so grateful for that! I have friends with babies the same age; one seems to cry every time they leave the house whether she's in a carrier, a stroller, or a car seat, and the other one seems to cry for no reason at all at unpredictable times and for long periods of time. We're so happy to not have those problems! Our biggest problem these days is that we never know when or what is going to make him laugh! The other night, he was in the car on the way home and kept laughing at Kennedy for no reason at all, but we get him home and try all of the things we've gotten to work before and he wouldn't let out a single one. That kid! We love him!

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About Me

Hi. I'm Chelsea: wife, mom, daughter, teacher, expat, {amateur} photographer. You'll find me toting my camera everywhere because I never know what my kids are going to do or what I'm going to see exploring the streets of this city. Here is where you'll find our story from Stanwood to Seoul. To read more about us, click on "The Story".